4 Habits of Effective Dog Trainers
Here are four habits I practice as a professional dog trainer. You can adopt them too!
#1: Wear your treat bag
Positive-reinforcement dog trainers do a LOT of reinforcing. By wearing your treat bag (even at home if necessary!), your treats will be more accessible.
I use the Rapid Rewards treat bag from Doggone Good exclusively.
The more accessible your treats, the more likely you’ll reward your dog.
The more you reward your dog, the faster your dog will start doing what you want.
Keep those treats handy!
#2: Lean on prevention
Yes, I’m a dog trainer, but I don’t fix everything with “training.”
In fact, my first step is always Prevention.
When faced with a problem or an irritating behavior, my first thought is, “how can I stop this in a way that doesn’t require the dog to learn anything new??”
Learning takes time and I want relief now.
And I don’t want that bad behavior becoming a habit.
Dog trainers rely heavily on gates, crates, leashes, visual barriers, food stuffed toys and strategic treat scatters to prevent rehearsal of problematic behaviors.
After the prevention is in place, “training” can begin.
Dog trainers often use prevention solutions such as baby gates to get quick relief from behavior problems.
#3: Reward for standing
We tend to think of Sit as the basic good dog behavior.
You may ask your dog to Sit before putting his food down, or clipping on his leash, or opening the front door. This isn’t necessarily bad.
But what about Stand?
Dog trainers recognize that Stand is also a good behavior that can be rewarded — and it’s usually easier for the dog than Sit.
Good dog behavior doesn’t often start with a Sit — sometimes a Stand will do!
When you reward your dog for standing, you’re doing two things that effective dog trainers also do:
Recognizing baby steps towards better behavior (standing can lead to sitting)
Recognizing the good your dog is already doing (standing in the kitchen is a better choice than jumping on the counters)
Learn to see the baby steps and generously reward them with the treats… from your treat bag.
#4: Know the dog’s limits
Good dog trainers recognize what the dog is and is not ready for, and they work within that reality.
Obviously, progress doesn’t happen if we never raise the bar, but good dog trainers can raise the bar without setting it completely out of the dog’s reach. Good dog trainers also know when to lower the bar so the dog can succeed and build momentum.
Learning to feel safe around traffic started in the driveway for this Golden Retriever— not the neighborhood.
This is one benefit of a Day Training program. When the dog trainer takes the leash to work directly with your dog, she can find the best starting point for YOUR dog much faster than she can teach you how to do the same thing.
She can also usually raise the bar faster because she can spot the signs your dog is ready and make minor adjustments that challenge your dog without causing him to fail.
Koinonia offers Day Training programs for adult dogs and puppies.
Meet the Dog Trainer and Blog Author
Leighann founded Koinonia Dogs in 2014 and has been a Certified Professional Dog Trainer in the Austin, TX area since 2019.
She's a problem-solver by nature and loves creating cooperation through conflict-free communication so both ends of the leash enjoy life together.
